Instant Wakame Flakes, Sea Vegetable - cultivated

Quick Overview

This fine Japanese wakame is cultivated in the Naruto Strait between the Shikoku and Awaji Islands. Strong currents and whirlpools strengthen it. Washed, cooked, cut, dried, and ready to use without soaking right out of the bag for miso soup. Soak briefly for salads, it expands 20 times. Quick, versatile, and easy. Wakame is one of the most popular sea vegetables in Japan and the U.S.A. Mild flavor. Fat free and low sodium.

Details

Eden Instant Wakame Flakes are cultivated in the Naruto Strait between the Shikoku and Awaji Islands. Powerful tidal currents and whirlpools between the Inland Japan Sea and the Pacific Ocean create exceptional characteristics. Naruto wakame is renowned for its rich flavor, beautiful green color, thickness, and crisp yet soft texture. Wakame is one of the most popular sea vegetables in Japan and the United States.

This wakame is hand harvested by farmers from February to April, taken ashore, and sun-dried. To make Eden Instant Wakame Flakes, dry wakame is washed and then simmered in salt water for about thirty seconds to replicate the method used for centuries of washing it in sea water. This turns the wakame from brown to green. After simmering it is washed in ice water removing the salt. The leaves are trimmed to remove its tough main rib, and the rough leaf tips. After cutting it is rinsed again in sea water followed by fresh water before a thorough visual and mechanical inspection. As it air-dries the tiny curls of dried wakame are formed. None of these steps reduce its nutrient content. The washing, trimming, and cleaning processes create a more instantly usable wakame that is quick, versatile, and easy. No more kitchen washing, soaking, or trimming. Eden Wakame Flakes are an ancient health food, extremely important today, and low in sodium.

Wakame Undaria pinnatifida is a delicate, brown species of algae or sea vegetable with long leaves that resemble feathers. Its size and tenderness varies depending on whether cultivated or wild, and where it grows. Water temperature and ocean conditions greatly influence the texture, flavor, nutrients, and cooking quality of wakame. It is the green in Miso soup. Eden Instant Wakame Flakes are quickly restored to tenderness by soaking for 2 to 3 minutes for marinated dishes, casseroles and salads. For soups, broth, and stews no soaking is necessary, simply place it in the cooking water.

Eden Instant Wakame Flakes are low in sodium. They contain no fat or calories. Wakame is a source of iodine and was traditionallly an important food for the prevention of goiter. Like kombu and other brown algae sea vegetables wakame contains a sweet amino acid that is a flavor enhancer and softening agent when cooked with other foods, glutamine. Its alginic acid, a polysaccharide similar to pectin found in land plants, protects the plant from bacteria and fungi. Research conducted at McGill University in Montéal demonstrated that "alginic acid binds with heavy metals in the body, from all sources, renders them insoluble and causes them to be eliminated."

Eden Instant Wakame Flakes are pure and natural. Unlike many wakame producers, we do not use artificial methods of cultivation, harvesting, or softening agents such as enzymes or monosodium glutamate. Eden Instant Wakame Flakes are of the finest quality and uniformity of size. They hold their shape and texture well when soaked or cooked without becoming slippery or dissolving.